A normal ice-hockey puck is a disc 3 inches in diameter, 1 inch thick, and about 6 oz. in weight, intended to slide along a surface on one of the two flat ends (top or bottom.) Street hockey pucks are intended to simulate the sliding motion of a rubber puck on ice, however the conditions seen by a street hockey puck on land are different from those seen by a rubber puck on ice. Unfortunately, these off-ice conditions prove challenging when designing a street hockey puck that emulates the handling and feel of a rubber puck on ice. There are many types of street hockey pucks; some perform better than others in emulating this on-ice feel.
Compared to ice hockey pucks, street hockey pucks must contend with higher friction and a greater roughness of the terrain over which they travel. Generally, this destabilizes the sliding motion of the puck, causing it to flip up on its side and roll.
The increased level of friction makes it more likely for a street hockey puck to tip from a stable sliding position onto its narrow cylindrical face. Because of increased friction, a puck that flips onto its side is also likely to begin rolling along the ground as its kinetic energy is quickly translated into rotational kinetic energy. A puck rolling on ice is much easier to handle than a puck rolling on pavement. A puck rolling off-ice becomes unpredictable, and difficult to tip flat. Furthermore, once a puck starts rolling on the ground, the angular velocity/momentum of the puck adds a stability to its undesirable rolling orientation making it even more difficult to knock back down to its flat, sliding orientation. The lower level of friction on ice makes it much easier to knock a tipped puck back down. To make matters worse, attempts to knock a rolling puck down on land often add energy to the puck, increasing angular velocity/momentum of the puck and making it even more difficult to knock flat.
In addition to friction, the rougher terrain also increases the likelihood of the puck tipping up on its side. As a puck slides over variations in surface topography, the puck can be “tossed” as if sliding off a ramp. Ice is much smoother and less rough.
Furthermore, higher friction on street surfaces such as asphalt throws off the grip-ratio,
                    μ                              Puck            /            Surface                    ⁢                                          ⁢          1                            μ                  Puck          /          Stick                      ⁢          :        ⁢                  ⁢                  μ                              Puck            /            Surface                    ⁢                                          ⁢          2                            μ                  Puck          /          Stick                      ,where μA/B represents the coefficient of friction between material “A” and material “B.” The coefficient of friction between a round puck on the blade of a hockey stick is the same whether the puck is sliding on ice or asphalt. However, the coefficient of friction between the puck and the playing surface is much higher on asphalt than it is on ice. This discrepancy between the grip ratios
            μ              Puck        /        Ice                    μ              Puck        /        Stick              ≠            μ              Puck        /        Asphalt                    μ              Puck        /        Stick            results in inconsistent puck handling when transitioning between ice and off-ice playing surfaces.